Previous approaches to shipping fragile components (i.e., hard drives) have typically utilized substances such as resilient foam, as well as adhesives and other non-recyclable materials when packaging such components.
For an example of a typical packaging system, please refer now to FIG. 1. FIG. 1 is an exploded view of a typical packaging system for fragile components such as a hard drive. This approach utilizes a polyurethane bottom cushion 12, a polyurethane middle cushion 14, a polyurethane top cushion 16 and a corrugated tray 18, all of which fit into a corrugated carton 10. Utilizing this approach, the component to be shipped (not shown) is inserted between the polyurethane top cushion 16 and the polyurethane bottom cushion 12, through the polyurethane middle cushion 14. However, as previously mentioned, a drawback to this approach is the high cost of the polyurethane material, as well as the fact that polyurethane is not biodegradable and thus not environment friendly.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system and method which makes use of lower cost, environmentally safe and recyclable materials and yet safely protects fragile components from any potential damage that can be caused during the shipping process. The present invention addresses such a need.